TEDx Brooklyn / Hello ZSO / The KDU from Sara Blake on Vimeo.
Originally Published in The New York Times Local Ft. Greene section by Amelia Blanqueria
Media legend Kurt Andersen quipped that interviewing R. Saul Wurman, creator of the TED conferences, was “like meeting God late in the New Testament.” Mr. Wurman laughed in response, but did not disagree. Their playful banter set the tone for the conversation at TEDx Brooklyn held this past weekend at Pratt Institute.
TED started out in 1984 as a one-off conference mixing together folks from the worlds of technology, entertainment and design.
“The only thing I have a grasp of is my stupidity. But I am very disciplined about trying to make something clear,” Mr. Wurman stated about the genesis of TED.
Twenty-six years later, TED includes two conferences, the TEDTalks video site and the TED Prize, all devoted to the mission of “spreading ideas.” TEDx conferences are independently organized, volunteer-driven events designed to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences. TEDx Brooklyn was one such event.
Scott Heiferman, CEO of Meetup.com, served as the morning host to the day. The afternoon master of ceremonies was Brooklyn’s own, Kazi Rolle, the founder of the Hip-Hop Project. “One Moves Many” was the theme of the conference, which was intended to encourage attendees to think about the making of a movement – from conception to mass adoption, from doubt to success.
Speaker Nate Ball, for instance, is on a mission to make engineering cool to kids through the PBS show “Design Squad.” He entertained the audience with his beat box vocals to illustrate the tools needed to build a sound. Just like in engineering, Mr. Ball showed how a seemingly complex concept could be parsed into simple steps and then layered into something more sophisticated.
The Local’s contributor Colin Weatherby did an excellent job of describing other speakers at the event. Among them, Barbara Bush, Swoon, Dr. Mitchell Joachim, and the energetic Pratt professor Karl Chu stole the show.
Co-organizer Tegy Thomas, was keen on bringing the “right synergies” to the TEDx Brooklyn event. He applied for the TEDx license back in March 2010 and teamed up with Pratt trustee, Bruce Gitlin.
Beyond the noteworthy speakers and organizers, were the equally accomplished audience members. Prior to the show, attendees filled out an online application that asked questions like “What are you passionate about that can help create a better world?” Those unfazed by the screening process paid $100 for the day-long conference. $30 tickets were made available to the Pratt community.
Attendee Dan Blum, of Prospect Heights, works for the online charity DonorsChoose.org. He said, “I’m looking forward to meeting interesting people and listening in on a wide range of topics.”
“I love the TED talks online. Pratt has great creative energy so I was curious to see what would happen,” remarked Sunset Park resident Tana Green.
Ms. Green is an experience architect at the firm Tangible Places.
Fort Greene residents, Sam Utne and Ebenezer Bond enjoyed the “blunt talk” of the speakers. Although, Mr. Bond acknowledged, “The event could have used more Brooklyn flavor.”
Mr. Bond is not alone in his lament. From the twitter-sphere came this comment from @answhip, “My expectations were way too high. #tedxbrooklyn also didn’t come close to representing brooklyn’s diversity, creative or otherwise.”
Perhaps the kvetchers didn’t pay a visit to the TEDx Brooklyn Labs room. Set in the lower levels of the Pratt auditorium building, the room was filled with representatives of the ingenuous artistic and DIY communities that currently pervade Brooklyn. Union Docs, a Williamsburg arts collective had projectors and televisions constantly screening their work. And Keystone Design Union (KDU) member, Sara Blake, was in the midst of creating a stop-motion short based on her designs for the TEDx show.
Whatever their expectations, people attended TEDx Brooklyn for a variety of reasons. Attendee Carol Schrager may have summed it up best, “People who come are self-selecting curious people.” One could argue the same statement could be made about people who live in Brooklyn.